No. 1 ranked Ohio State opened preseason camp Monday afternoon and coach Jim Tressel met with the media before his Buckeyes took to the practice field for the first time.

Jim TresselOn the opening of fall camp: “We are going to start teaching. We go from bowl practice to now teaching freshmen the terminology.”

“Our experience is unusual this year. Our offense is more experienced than our defense and the first job as a mature offense it to make sure our defense is in good shape.”

On being No. 1 in the polls: “It makes you appreciate your job at Ohio State. We have addressed how to handle a lot of things like the hype of preseason No. 1 and handling success.”

On Troy Smith: “When you have a starting quarterback returning it is neat to watch how he has grabbed a hold of the team. Troy has taken the leadership role in a positive way and often tells his teammates the things us coaches would like to say.”

On the senior class: “We have 17 fifth-year seniors who have all been patient because of their positions and I am excited to see how they will step up this year.”

On the freshman class: “The key to playing as a freshman is how quickly they learn the material. Once they learn the material than their physical ability can take over.”